With Vints recovering
from Doc Proxi's head-welding, Akilles and Edzra were top dogs for a
few sets of shifts, and that's when a chance came to bloody the
sinksucking noses of the Battersump H.E.A.T.. A thermaestro by the
name of Kraxis Taal was overseeing a maintenance run, and the Jackers
had got their hands on a hacked rundown of the his itinerary. Taking
him out would earn the good will of the Ba'Kings – too good to
miss.
Turns out another H8
mob called the Harbingers of the Undivided had nabbed the same list.
They were affiliated with the Wind Sore Clan, but Edzra arranged a
parlay and persuaded them that it was in their interests to join
forces for the job. The Harbingers were a strange crew - offworlders,
it seemed, clad in ragged militarum gear and given to cursing with
obscure lingo that made even a ganger's mind twinge to hear it. Edzra
wasn't entirely convinced by Harbinger boss Crowley's assurances that
Ashmole the psyker was entirely officially sanctioned.
Still, the Jackers were
glad of the allies when the scrap came and the H.E.A.T. maestro
turned up with bodyguards: an entourage made up of gangers from the
Hellhounds and Krass Dynasty. The plan was to rush the target as he
approached an undergrind access elevator at Deathknell Gap . It was a
well-known ambush point: the walls and decking were red-brown with
caked-on blood.
While Edzra and Kaleb
lurked behind an access port near the elevator unit, Akilles took
Murgen and Djo and made to outflank the entourage on the left; the
Harbingers spread out and did likewise to the right of the unit. Skew
and Ralve got sent on a wide work-around, intending to loop behind
the H.E.A.T. crew and come at them from behind.
What the Jackers and
Harbingers hadn't counted on was the H.E.A.T.ers anticipating the hit
attempt and sending some of their own fighters on ahead. Even as
Akilles and his boys made their first moves forward, the unmistakable
roar of chainblades and buzz-cutters kicked in, all too nearby.
Djo got hit first.
Lumbering out of a shadowy corridor to the left came the bloated,
hulking form of Sawboss, the Hellhounds' resident brute. The Jackers
had a near-miss with the beast cycles ago at the old Catch 22
gambling pit, but this time he was right in their faces, chainblades
alive. Djo went down in a click, and Akilles and Murgen let rip with
stubberfire – enough to make the monster bleed, but nowhere near
enough to take it down.
The yells of alarm
sounded across the adjoining passageways, but Edzra told Kaleb to
stand firm and wait for the Taal and his minders to draw nearer
across the chamber leading to the elevator. Likewise, the Harbingers,
over beyond the elevator, continued their steady advance, exchanging
some long range fire with the Dynasty and Hellhounds and sending one
of the former packing.
Not that this was much
solace to Akilles. Despite his size, Sawboss was damned fast. Having
dealt with Djo, the beast was on Akilles in a flash – the Jacker
veteran's vaunted rep for standing firm under gunfire didn't amount
to much against such a brutal close-up attack. He went down, hard.
Murgen clocked all this
and rightly figured his efforts would be wasted on the brute. But
he'd spotted another Hellhound lurking in the corridor behind
Sawboss. Darting forward, he let rip with his stubbers, bur he missed
outright. The Hellhound was a better shot, and toting a plasmagun to
boot – Murgen went down and out just like Akilles.
Over the other side of
the elevator, the Harbingers were getting into it with the advancing
H.E.A.T.ers: bullets and blows were being exchanged, blood was being
spilt. Abraham Krass himself was in close combat with grim-masked
Harbinger Conan but, having only brought a few of his brethren to the
fight, was looking nervy about sticking around. The Hellhound psyker
known as Kel'tor moved to the centre of the chamber, looking to
mind-blast a path to the elevator, but Harbinger gunfire had him down
and bleeding. Still, the rest of the crew encircling Taal were
advancing steadily behind.
Meanwhile, Skew had
snuck into the fightzone behind enemy lines and had a pretty good
view of things – good enough that he was biding his time rather
than make a suicide run at the entourage. He saw Ralve sneak on
likewise at the far other end of the corridor, and waved his hand,
signalling to his gangmate to hold fire for now.
Then word crackled
through on the crude vox-link the Jackers and Harbingers had set up
between them – Krass has bottled and fled the fight, and it looked
like his remaining cronies would soon do likewise. Edzra and Kaleb,
still waiting behind the door for a moment to strike, shared a glance
– perhaps the time was right.
Behind them, where
Akilles and his boys had headed, they saw Harbinger Page moving
backwards, blasting away with his hotshot las at some unseen target.
Page shuffled out of sight, and the target appeared: Sawboss, blades
churning.
So much for the right
moment. They had to hit the main chamber now.
Edzra popped the door
and Kaleb raced through. He clocked the thermaestro straight away and
ran full tilt towards him, ignoring the H.E.A.T. fighters in his
peripheral vision. He almost stopped short when the Hellhound heavy
beside Taal raised his heavy stubber and let rip, but all the bullets
ran wide.
Kaleb raised his
autogun. He squeezed the trigger. A burst of shots ripped forth.
And missed.
Kaleb had just enough
time to realise he was totally in the open before a plasmaburst
caught him hard in the chest, taking him out instantly.
Ralve and Skew saw this
from their distant vantage points and voxed through to Edzra, telling
him that this fight wasn't worth it, that they were hauling boots.
Edzra didn't blame them – hell, he agreed and, as Sawboss loomed
behind him, he heaved open an access hatch and ducked out of the
fight.
Seems bossman Crowley and his
crew had much the same realisation – not long after, they also
bottled, and the Hellhounds and remaining Krass Dynasty escorted Taal
to the elevator and on to Battersump without further mishap.
After the last echo of
the battle had died, the Jackers returned to the zone: luckily, their
fallen were all accounted for, and Akilles, Djo and Murgen, while
badly hit, would surely recover. Kaleb was a different story, and
Edzra had Ralve and Skew hustle his bloody body off to Doc Proxi
directly.
Edzra paused a click or
two after they'd gone. Not much to show for a shift's fighting, and
nothing the Ba'Kings would be impressed by. Still, there'd be other
chances to hit the Battersump H.E.A.T.. The Wind Sore Clan too, for
that matter. And besides, what do you expect when you side with
deviant freaks? The Harbingers' weird battle chants were going to
haunt Edzra for cycles to come, probably give him nightmares, too.
But Edzra wasn't going
to worry about nightmares. The Underhive's got trouble enough for the
wakeful. Trouble that comes at you with blades for hands, stimms for
blood and murderous madness in its eyes.